FInal Blogger Assement Responses

1)      One way I demonstrate my voice in the novel is by using an allusion. The allusion I use is about a portable gaming system called a PSP. This word showcases my personality as a writer because I like to compare things in the book to real life to get a sense of how the book will turn out and when the book takes place. The next phrase I use to showcase my voice is when I stated “…no one would hear you and it’s almost like being trapped.” I feel like this shows my personality because I use a simile to explain the large size of the house which shows I like to use writers craft in my writing to intrigue the reader.

 

2)      The type of diction I use in my blog is informal. I use when I refer to their new house as a “Victorian fixer-upper”.  This helps the reader to get a better image in their head of what the house actually looks like. This phrase makes the reader think of a very large and nice house but, it is still very old and definitely needs some work done before the King family can move in. One type of syntax I used in my blog was anaphora. I present this in my blog when I use the phrase, “small, secluded” to describe the town of Pinedale. This helps to really put those words into perspective and make the reader imagine the town so it’s almost like they could compare it to something they have seen or a town they have been to in real life.

House of Dark Shadows- Relatable Characters

This book reminds me of many different movies but one stands out the most. House of Dark Shadows reminds me of the movie Super 8. One of the reasons that this book reminds me of Super 8 is how Xander loves to film movies and wants to film something suspicious in the house. This is much like in the Movie Super 8 when there group of friends are filming a movie when they find out about the aliens and begin to film them instead. Also, the ghosts in the house in the book are like the aliens in the town in the movie. This book also reminds me of the movie Haunted Mansion. In this movie, the family moves into a secluded mansion that is very old and they find out that it has spirits in it. This is just like Xander and his family moving from L.A. to the small town and house they live in now.

I wrote this on the week of 1/13/14 and it didn't upload. That is why it is out of order with the rest of my blogs.

House of Dark Shadows- Book Review

The book House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo is about a boy named Xander King and his family who have just moved from down town LA to the small town of Pinedale. Xander is not very happy about moving at the beginning but he gets very interested in the strange occurrences that are going on through out his new house. If you read this book, you could find out the source of these strange occurrences and see what happens to Xander and the rest of his family. I think the type of reader that would enjoy this book is someone who likes adventure novels and fantasy novels. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I would give it this rating because I thought the book was very interesting but lacking some things that could have made it a great book. The writing style of this book is through the eyes of a teenager. I think Robert Liparulo did a great job of conveying this style because I felt like Xander could be a kid at our school today and I also feel like I got to know him over the course of the book.

Since I just finished reading House of Dark Shadows, any good book ideas?

House of Dark Shadows- Dynamic Character

The dynamic character in the the novel House of Dark Shadows is Xander King. He is also the main character in the story and is a freshman in high school like me. Over the course of the story, Xander has changed in many different ways. One way he has changed in my opinion is that he has gotten a lot braver than what i first had expected him to be. When he first moved to his new house he was always moping around and unhappy about everything but since he became curious about the mysterious happenings going on in the house, he has been a lot more brave. He also has become more out going and adventurous. I say this because he used to not want to make new friends and just be sad all the time but now he has broken out of his shell and is making new friends at his school and has started to do things rather than sit around the house. These are the reasons in my opinion that Xander is dynamic.

Who is the dynamic character in your story?

House of Dark Shadows- Impact of Setting

In the book House of Dark Shadows, setting is everything. Without the setting, there wouldn't even be a story. For example, the beginning of the story starts with Xander getting used to a new setting in Pinedale, which is the town he moved to away from L.A. Next is the setting of the house they moved to. It is a big, scary house that is surrounded by forest and all of the kids in the King family think it is very suspicious. The imagery in the text helps to promote suspenseful moment by describing the house and how creepy it really is. "Xander looked out the window of the pitch black room and saw nothing... nothing but trees." I don't know about you but that line write their puts a good picture in my head and i would not want to be in Xander's situation right now.

Do you think setting is the main factor in most novels?

House of Dark Shadows- Authors Pupose

I think that the author, Robert Liparulo had many reasons for writing this novel. I think the first and main reason the author wrote this story is to entertain a young reader and get them to enjoy reading more. I believe this because the author writes the story as if it is a movie and if you do not like reading you would probably prefer to watch a movie. Another reason the author wrote this book is to scare the reader. This book is about a haunted house so obviously the author would want to put some sort of fear in the readers mind. The author also could have wrote this novel so people could relate to it. I think the whole part of the story of Xander and his family moving and how he misses his friends is very relatable and the author may have been in the same situation when he was younger. That is how he could give such a great description of how this felt.

House of Dark Shadows- Conversation with Xander King

If I sat down and had a conversation with the main character in the book "House of Dark Shadows" it would probably go something like this: I would first ask him about some of his interests, hobbies etc. He would probably respond with filming movies or short films, hanging out with his friends, and fighting with his brother. I would then ask him how he likes the new town he has moved into. Xander would reply by saying that it's peaceful and that he likes all the trees but he misses the city and all of the friends that he had. Next I would ask him about the house that they are thinking about buying and how he feels about it. He would say back that he thinks the house is really big and has a cool look to it. It also is kind of nice living way back in the woods with no one to disturb you. He would also mention how whenever he's in the house it feels like someone is watching him and that it really freaks him out. I would wish him good luck with his new life in Pinedale and the conversation would be over.

Would you like to live in a really big, nice house even if you felt like someone was watching you?

House of Dark Shadows- Setting of Novel

I just started reading the book House of Dark Shadows and the author has already given me a good idea of the setting of the book. Xander King and his family just moved from the big city of L.A. to a small secluded town of Pinedale. They're house is an old Victorian fixer-upper that is surrounded by heavy woods. The time period the book is set in is 2008 when the book was published. I know this because of some of the things the kids are using such as a PSP. There were a few good lines of imagery in the prologue which was describing a house in the 1970's. One of these lines was "The walls of the house absorbed the woman's screams, until they felt to her as muffled and pointless as yelling underwater." This shows that the house was so big even if you were screaming, no one would hear you and it's almost like being trapped.

Xander was very disappointed  about moving away from the the big city and all of his friends. If you had the choice, would you rather live in a small, secluded, quiet town or a big, loud, jam-packed city?

Fahrenheit 451- Conversation with Guy Montag

Since Guy Montag is the main character in Farenheit 451 I would love to sit down and have a conversation with him. I would start the conversation by asking him how the world has changed since he was born. He would probably reply by saying not much has changed, even though I'm sure a lot has changed, it's just the government is brain washing people to believe it has'nt changed. I would then ask him about his wife Mildred and how the two of them are doing together. I think Montag would respond by saying that he thinks that they aren't truly in love anymore and they are almost like roomates now that who are not even good friends. Next, I would ask him about Clarisse and how she has impacted his life. He would reply by saying that she has completely changed his views on life and society. She has shown him that books should not be burned but read to gain knowledge about things that people should know about such as government or history. She shows him that he is not happy with his life and he can never lose that feeling of emptiness that she has planted in his mind. I would thank him for his time and tell him go out and find or do whatever he can to fill that emptiness. He would agree and politely shake my hand.

Blog Reflection- Friday Night Lights

Theme/Summary:
       This blog post meets the standards and expectations of the theme according to the rubric on all aspects. First, I had written a theme, "life isn't always fair." Next, I included a quote to prove this theme about how Boobie's Uncle L.V. was always telling him that he was "heisman material from day one." Boobie was a very good football player getting offers from top notch colleges all around the country for football. But, early in his senior season, he had a devastating injury to his knee which ended his season/career as a football player. With his terrible grades and inability to play football Boobie went from on top of the world to down in the dumps with no hope. He learned the hard way that life isn't always fair. I then summarized the book by stating that the team has worked hard even with all the injuries and has made it to the state championship but lost to their rivals. This also reflects the theme because they put in all the hard work and got to the championship but ended up losing. They did however get back to the championship the following year and win.

       Next trimester, my reading goal is to read more than 2 higher level books and truly understand them. My goal for writing is to write with more passion and with better grammar so it sound better overall. For reading I want to improve my interest so I will be able to read a full book and be intrigued the whole time. For writing I would like to use better grammar and syntax.

New Book Ideas

Since I just finished my last book Friday Night Lights I need some ideas of a new book to start. If you could give me suggestions in the comment section of this blog that would be great. The types of books that I am interested in are realistic fiction novels and sports novels.

Thoughts on Friday Night Lights

I really liked the book Friday Night Lights and i would give it a 4.5 rating out of 5. I think the reason I liked it so much was all of the details the author gave about the games and the way he described his relationship with the team. I think i liked the book better than the movie because the book was more real than the movie in that the author actually moved to the town to learn about the team.

Losing the Championship

When the Odessa-Permian Panthers lose the championship, it has a huge impact on everyone involved with the team. They all took this loss very hard but ended up regrouping and getting their team back to the championship and winning the next season. I think that this shows the perseverance of the team and how hard they worked and the determination they had to get back to that game and stick it to their opponents.

Friday Night Lights- Theme & Summary

The theme of this book is that life isn’t always fair. It is is reflected in two ways. First, we see the example of Boobie Miles who has nothing if he doesn’t have football. His uncle L.V. taught the boy all he knew about football as he was growing up, telling in him that he was Heisman trophy material. As a result, Boobie didn’t know how to do anything else. His education was weak at best and there was nothing in his plans after high school. He ends up injuring his knee which ends his football career. Boobie  has to deal with this and work even harder in school now then he did on the football field. The second example is the football team. They worked so hard all season and they knew this had to be there year to win the championship. They end up losing in the state championship devastating the whole town but, they get over the loss and go back next season and win state.

My Favorite Character

My favorite character in the book Friday Night Lights so far is Brian Chavez. I think the reason that I like him so much is because of his dedication and love for football. By the way the author describes him, he seems like the kind of guy that would have your back in any situation and would be willing to take a bullet for one of his teammates. I also like the fact that he is only a 5'10" safety, but he plays as hard as a 6'4" lineman. He seems to be the perfect teammate.

Friday Night Lights- Characters

One of the main characters in my book, Boobie Miles has changed or developed because he used to be a selfish and cocky guy who thought he owned the school because he was such a great football player. But since his knee injury he has been more quiet and less self conceded making him more of a team player and willing to cheer on his team regardless if he's on the field. One of the things he said when he was still selfish and a non-team player was when he was talking to Mike Winchell, "Hey Boobie you didn't lift. C'mon man. This is god given. The only thing I gotta do is show up." But later in the book he says, "Aye, if were gonna win this game were gonna win it as a team! Now bring it in!" leading the team break as they run out on the field. Boobie miles demonstrates the theme of this book by showing that football is a team sport and if you want to be a champion then you have to do it together with your team and not be selfish.

The Pep Rally

I really enjoyed when the author was describing the pep rally and how hyped up the players were getting as everyone cheered for them. He used good figurative language like metaphors, similes, and hyperboles to describe what was happening around them and how the players were feeling at the moment. You could really tell that the author was at the pep rally by how well he depicted the scene. He used great imagery and it made me want to continue reading the book.

Friday Night Lights- Book Recommendation

I think that this book is very interesting and has kept me reading so far. If I had to give it a rate put of 5 stars I would give it 4.5 stars. I think the author's characterization has been very good. I feel like I know the characters and every time I'm reading something about them i can picture them in my mind. I think this book is targeted towards sports fans or football fans that are in middle school or older. My book is about a high school football team in Texas that's city depends on the outcome of their season. They are expected to be good this year and the town had high hopes. If they do not live up to the expectations then the town will crumble. The genre of this book is a documentary.

Things I like about the book so far

One thing i like about this book is that the writer actually moved to the town to get a better idea of how much football was praised there. I did not know this before i watched the movie and now that I do know this it kind of changes my perspective on the book. I also like the way the author describes the players and his relationships with the players. It shows you how much time and effort he took to write this book and how he is almost apart of the team.

Friday Night Lights- Analysis

The book explicitly says that it is about a city that is built around it's high school football team, the Permian Panthers. When I say it is build around the team I mean when the team is doing good, the town is doing good, and when it's not, like it has been the last couple years, the town will not do well either. But, the team has recently gotten their star running back Boobie Miles back who was out for the season last year with a knee injury. Boobie says he is good to go even though everyone in town know his knee will never be the same. Even so, the town is hopeful for a successful season and a shot at the state championship.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boobie_Miles